Ferozepur/New Delh, Oct 8 (Agencies): A train driver was killed when a truck rammed into a passenger train at an unmanned crossing in Punjab`s Ferozepur district on Sunday, officials said. No passenger was injured.

"The incident occurred around 10.15 a.m. at an unmanned railway crossing between Jalalabad ansd Ladhuka Mandi stations as the train was headed for Fazilka from Ferozpur," Neeraj Sharma, Northern Railway Spokesperson, told IANS in Delhi.

The deceased loco pilot of the DEMU passenger train has been identified as Vikas Kumar, posted at Ferozpur headquarters.

"Vikas Kumar showed bravery as he tried to avert the collision. He applied emergency brakes to stop the train though he could have saved his life by jumping off but he remained there and was killed," said Sharma.

The impact of the collision was such that the truck ripped through the train`s engine.

Pak's national carrier PIA mulls suspending flights to US

NEW DELHI, Oct 8 (Agencies): Pakistan's national carrier PIA is reportedly considering to suspend all flight services to the United States from January next year.

The airline has already stopped booking for its twice-a-week flights to New York from November onwards, Dawn reported.

However, its two weekly Lahore-New York and Karachi-Lahore-New York flight service will continue till Dec 31.

The airline has cited ‘low traffic’ as the main reason for its flight suspension. Some 500,000 Pakistanis live in the US.

“The PIA is considering closing its flight operation for the US till the financial health of the organisation improves,” the report quoted the airline's spokesman Mashood Tajwar as saying.

“The national flag carrier is already facing an acute financial crunch, therefore, it cannot operate on routes which are running in losses,” the official said.

The airline has reportedly accumulated a loss of more than Rs. 300 billion.

The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) had launched its flight services to the US in 1961.

In the recent past, the airline had also operated flights for Washington, Chicago and Houston.

ANANTNAG, Oct 8: Traders Federation Anantnag on Sunday called off the strike it had called on Friday against the police excesses on shopkeepers. The call was withdrawn following the assurance by top police officials that their complaints will be booked and the detained persons including some shopkeepers will be bailed out.
United Traders Federation, an amalgam of various trade bodies of the town, had on Friday called for a strike demanding the transfer of SHO. They had alleged that the office